Following the horror scholar transport crash on AZ Berman Drive on Tuesday 30 May, City of Cape Town traffic officers hosted an operation looking at the state of scholar transport vehicles on Wednesday 31 May.
Ward 116 councillor and Subcouncil 12 chair Solomon Philander says during the operations in Lentegeur and Rocklands, 14 vehicles were impounded for transgressing regulations, with a further 273 fines issued.
“All vehicles transporting children to and from schools must be safe and reliable. This will be our message to all parents contracting drivers to transport their children to and from school. As a subcouncil we will work with the transport enforcement unit (TEU),” says Philander in a statement.
“I welcome the efforts of enforcement during the time of Child Protection Week and we will continue with operations across Mitchell’s Plain beyond this week to keep children safe. We call on all residents to be vigilant and assist in keeping our children safe.”
Philander says while no one plans for an accident, he implores parents to take responsibility for the safety of their children.
“Scholar transport has been a problem for many years because children come into school in Mitchell’s Plain from various areas. As a parent, you obviously take the cheapest transport. Public transport has failed us.
“The railway is not running to Mitchell’s Plain anymore and there is no link yet between Khayelitsha and Mitchell’s Plain with MyCiTi, for example,” says Philander to People’s Post.
He says in the absence of reliable and affordable public transport, parents opt for scholar transport, where a group of children going in the same direction comes together.
Philander says the journey to schools outside of the areas where children reside is twofold – children are not being accepted at schools close to them, or parents opt to send their children to schools outside the area for better education – often seen to be Mitchell’s Plain.
He says each parent should be responsible for the safety of their children, selecting appropriate means of transport.
- He urges residents to report any vehicle transgressing road rules to Traffic.Services@capetown.gov.za
